Senate Republicans Pass Immigration Funding After Overnight Vote
The Morning Buzz: June 5, 2026
1. Senate Republicans Pass Immigration Funding After Overnight Vote
For NPR, Barbara Spunt and Eric McDaniel report that Senate Republicans advanced roughly $70 billion in funding for immigration enforcement agencies on Thursday night. However, last night’s vote exposed divisions within the GOP, particularly over the controversial $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” that the Trump administration proposed to compensate individuals who claim they were politically targeted by the government. According to the 2025 PRRI American Values Survey, a slim majority of Americans (52%) say increased funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to speed up efforts to arrest, detain, and deport undocumented immigrants has gone too far.
2. Defense Department to Drop Atheists, Pagans, 175 Others From List of Military Faiths
Adelle M. Banks and Yonat Shimron at Religion News Service cover reports that the Department of Defense will greatly reduce the number of religions it recognizes from over 200 to just 31. This change presents challenges for military personnel of underrepresented groups seeking support from religious leaders of their faith. The new list reportedly contains mostly Christian denominations and excludes smaller religious and non-religious groups. The 2025 PRRI Census of American Religion finds that two out of three Americans identify as Christian (66%), three in ten (28%) are religiously unaffiliated, and 6% identify with non-Christian religions.
3. FDA Moves Ahead With Safety Study of Abortion Pill Mifepristone
At CBS News, Michael Kaplan reports that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advancing with a safety study of the abortion pill Mifepristone, a step that could create a path for the Trump administration to restrict access to the medication. The subject of ongoing debate, the drug came under renewed scrutiny after the Biden administration issued a memorandum lifting restrictions that required the drug to be dispensed in-person and giving access to mifepristone via telehealth and by mail. While it is unlikely the FDA will completely revoke approval of Mifepristone, safety study findings could result in limited access to the drug. PRRI finds that over two-thirds of Americans oppose laws that make it illegal to use or receive through the mail FDA-approved drugs for medical abortion (68%), while about three in ten favor these laws (28%).
4. Wars Are Never Holy
In an Opinion piece for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Rev. Richard Cizik highlights the Trump administration’s decision to host the ‘Rededicate 250’ rally last month, while the war in Iran is still underway and Americans are experiencing higher prices for gas and groceries. Cizik states that the rally, billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation Under God,” blurred the lines between church and state, and that many Christians attending the rally prayed for the insertion of religion into federal policy – including the decision to go to war. He asserts that “Christians of conscience cannot acquiesce to the instrumental use of God in building morale and winning a war.” PRRI finds that around 11% of Americans qualify as Christian nationalism Adherents, 21% as Sympathizers, 37% as Skeptics, and 27% as Rejecters.
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